Queen Announce Special Edition of Monopoly Board Game

At long last, the surviving members of Queen can say they've been honored with their own special edition of Monopoly.

Guitarist Brian May announced the upcoming tie-in, telling fans to expect a May release date and adding that they'd been "very secretly developing Queen Monopoly for over a year." Writing that he'd had "a blast" helping put the game together, May went on to compare the process to making an album and concluded, "We hope you love it! Choose your weapons!"

According to Entertainment Weekly, the goal of the game has been altered to reflect the band's legacy; instead of buying up real estate and utilities in an effort to bankrupt friends and family, players will instead attempt to achieve Queen-style greatness by following "the amazing gig history of Queen, from their very first at Imperial College in 1970 to their last with Freddie Mercury at Knebworth Park in 1986” and buying "gig locations and hit singles" as they go.

Aside from the altered board and game narrative, Queen Monopoly boasts an assortment of new playing pieces designed after key moments in the band's history. In addition to May's guitar, players can choose from a robot (inspired by the News of the World album artwork), a bicycle (a nod to the bands' "Bicycle Race"), a vacuum cleaner (as seen in the video for “I Want to Break Free") and a hammer (an allusion to “Hammer to Fall”).

As Monopoly enthusiasts are well aware, this is far from the first time the venerable game has launched a special edition tying in with some sort of cultural phenomenon. But Monopoly maker Hasbro has definitely been making a concerted effort to diversify the brand's impact: last year, the company announced plans for Monopoly the Musical, begging the question of whether anyone has talked to Queen about writing the soundtrack.